Around the World Roundup: 'Museum' Reclaims Top Spot

by Conor Bresnan

Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum

February 12, 2007

After a one-week hiatus, Night at the Museum reclaimed the lead at the international box office. The family comedy's $13.7 million weekend upped its foreign tally to $230.8 million. France contributed $4.3 million in the picture's impressive No. 1 debut. Night also held onto the top spot in Italy, falling 33 percent for a $9.5 million total.

Key Spanish-language markets kept Blood Diamond in second place. The adventure drama opened atop Spain with $2.3 million from 348 screens, which was on par with what The Departed did. In Mexico, Blood Diamond also had a successful second place start of $1 million from 350 prints. Overall, the picture generated $13.3 million over the weekend for a $64.4 million total.

The Pursuit of Happyness had its first slew of disappointing starts, though it still ranked third with $11.7 million for a $90 million total. The Will Smith drama opened in 22 smaller markets, but only three grossed more than $100,000. Even larger Scandinavian countries reported poor results, including Finland's $19,827 from six screens and Norway's $82,614 from 20. However, Pursuit did open in first place in Belgium with an excellent $332,276 from 28 and its big holdover markets remained strong.

Rocky Balboa grabbed an estimated $7.3 million weekend and a $60 million total. The boxing drama was tops in Germany with a decent $3.4 million start from 552 screens. It also played well in Brazil, earning $775,000 from 168 screens and ranking first.

Bolstered by the United Kingdom's porky $3.7 million start from 487 screens, Charlotte's Web made $6.4 million over the weekend for a $32.5 million total. Britain's launch was just shy of Chicken Little's and by far Charlotte's best yet. Expectedly mediocre launches, though, were logged in Belgium ($271,188 from 54 screens), France ($669,211 from 343), South Korea ($853,731 from 150) and Portugal ($187,840 from 45).

In its debut, Hannibal Rising was as anemic internationally as it was domestically. The horror prequel was okay in Italy with $2.9 million from 365 screens, but below previous Hannibal Lecter installments, Red Dragon and Hannibal, like in all other markets. In Australia, Rising was first with a mere $617,708 from 131 screens, while, in the U.K., it made a mediocre $1.8 million from 341 screens.

Also disappointing, Dreamgirls grossed $2.8 million over the weekend from 16 markets (five of which were new). The musical bombed in Argentina with $16,793 from 9 screens but showed promise in Switzerland with $189,994 from 26 screens. In the U.K., it tumbled 51 percent in its second weekend for a $4.6 million total and, in Italy, earned just $6,140 in its third weekend (off 94 percent). Germany and Austria were the only markets that performed decently, each falling less than 26 percent in their second weekends. Overall, Dreamgirls has $13.9 million, a far cry from Ray's $48.6 million.

The Holiday yielded solid debuts in Taiwan and Italy. The romantic comedy was No. 1 in Taiwan with $373,275 from 43 screens and No. 3 in Italy with $2 million from 218 screens, the latter on par with Bridget Jones's Diary. The Holiday had a $3.5 million weekend overall for a $120.5 million total.

In the U.K., Epic Movie opened a little higher than Date Movie, scoring $2.7 million from 327 screens. Overall, Epic Movie's weekend came to $3.6 million for a $9 million total.

Finishing its foreign campaign in Japan, The Guardian nabbed a fair $1.6 million from 175 screens, lifting its foreign tally to a disappointing $37.4 million.